In recent years, digital communication services have expanded and increased in popularity around the world. Many advanced networks offer various wireless mobile communication services for voice and data communications and enable users of mobile devices to access various websites providing online services. The data services, for example, enable surfing the world wide web via a browser on a mobile device and connecting to various websites, such as banks, retail stores, etc. for various online services over the Internet. Over the past years, online business has grown to multi-billion dollars business, and more and more people are connecting online for doing business with an ever broadening range of enterprises.
When a user of a mobile device connects to a website for an online service, the user enters a set of customer data (e.g., username, password and/or personal verification data, specific to the online service provider) to do related business over the Internet. When the user connects to a bank, for example, the user enters a username and password that has been set up in advance with the online banking service or site. When the user connects to an online retail store, the user enters another set of customer data (e.g., username, password and/or personal verification data, specific to the online retail store) to shop at the store. Similar user credentials are used to access other services. As a result, the user has to keep a list of different accounts with applicable usernames and passwords in a safe place that is handy for use. However, because of the ever-increasing number of online services, it may become an overwhelming task for the user to keep track of all of the personal verification data and account information in a safe, secure manner.
As a result of the number of accounts with different credentials, users often forget login account and password information for gaining access to online services offered by an enterprise and request to reset account and password information in order to obtain the online services. Such requests for resets of passwords and account information by the user may result in delayed service by the enterprise. Frequent reset requests by users create a burden on system operation by the enterprise and additional costs (e.g., additional costs of supporting resets of passwords and account information). Further, there are increasing concerns for security breach in using the username and password techniques over a network, because the username and password information can be lost or intercepted and used by someone other than the authorized user, without knowledge of the user.
A mobile device can be programmed to remember usernames and passwords for particular online services. This improves user convenience but may not reduce security concerns for the enterprise, for example, the mobile device can be misused by another person who obtains the mobile device surreptitiously from the user.